Message holder



April 26, 1932. L. F. HOWARD MESSAGE HOLDER Filed March 18, 1930 INVENTOR: A.F. Howard, 67 1-2-1! Patented Apr. 26, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LEMUEL F. HOWARD, OF EDGEWOOD, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION SWITCH & SIGNAL COMPANY, OF SWISS'VALE, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA MESSAGE HOLDER Application filed March 18, 1930. Serial No. 436,757.

My invention relates to message holders.

Under some conditions of railroading, it is customary for the attendant at a railroad station or signal tower to pass messages to one or more .members of the train crew on a moving train. This operation involves the use of aholder for the messages of such a design that the message is more easily grasped at hightrain speeds than the small envelope in which the messages are usually placed would be if no holder were used. One object of my invention is to provide a holder for this purpose which may be placed beside the track on which the train is approaching, and which will enable the train crew to receive a message or messages without requiring ing the assistance of an attendant at the station or tower beside the track when the train is passing.

I will describe one form of message holder embodying my invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a viewpartly in elevation and partly in crosssection showing one form of message holder embodying my invention. Fig. 2isasectional View on the line II-II of Fig. 1. The plane'of the section of Fig. 1 is indicated by a section on the line II of Fig. 2. Fig. 3

m is-a top view of a portion of the message holder shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4c is an end view of one of the clips 14': forming a part of the message holder illustrated in Fig. 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

which is closed at its upper end, and which at times may be rotated about the staff 1 in a manner to be described in detail hereinafter. The inside diameter of the tube 2 is somewhat larger than the diameter of the staff 1, and in order to center the tube on the staff, two

' spaced "ferrules 4A and 5 are interposed between gle, of-cou'rse is not essential.

the staff 1 and the tube 2. The upper ferrule 5 has an upstanding projection 5 which extends through a hole 2 in the closed'upp'er end of the tube 2, and which receives a screw 3 by means of which the ferrule 5 is fastened to the stafi 1. A washer 6 interposed between the head of the screw 3 and the projection 5 holds the tube 2 in place on the stafl' 1-, while permitting rotation of the tube about the stafi'. The lower ferrule 4 is "fastened to the stafi 1 by means of a screw 7.

A portion of the lower end of the tube 2 is cut away to form two shoulders 2 and 2 which cooperate with a stop pin 8 secured to the staff 1, to limit the angle through which the tube 2 may be rotated. As here shown, this angle is approximately 90, but this an- The lowerend of the tube 2 is also provided with a vertical slot 2 which receives one end of a coil spring 3, the other end of which is fasten-ed to the staff 1. The spring 3 is so arranged that the tube 2 is constantly biased to a position in which thestop pin 8 engages the shoulder 2.

The tube 2 is further provided at its lower end with a collar 9 having two sets of integral lugs disposed in angular spaced relation (Fig. 2). As here shown, the angular distance between these sets of lugs is 90, but this distance is not essential'to my invention. The lugs 9 of the one set carry a pin 10 on which is pivoted an arm 11, and the lugs 9 of the other set carry a pin 12 on which is pivoted a similar arm 13. The arms 11 and 13 are biased by gravity to a depending vertical position but may be movedto a horizontal position as will be made clear hereinafter. Secured'to the arm 13 at its right-hand end is a dog 15. The parts are so arranged that, if the tube 2 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction against the bias of spring 3 to the position in which the stop pin Sengages the shoulder 2 as shown in Fig. 2, and if the arm 13 is then raised to a horizontal position, the dog will extend through the slot 2 in the tube 2 and into a slot 4 in the ferrule 4, thereby holding the tube in this position as long as the arm 13 remains in a horizontal position.

The arm 13 is also provided with twoclips 1 1 (Fig. 4), one of which is located at each end of this arm, and the arm 11 is similarly provided with two similar clips 18. Two other clips 19 and 16 are attached to a ring 17 (see Fig. 3) which ring, in turn, is fastened to the upper end of tube 2. These later clips are so arranged that the clip 19 is directly above the arm 13 and the clip 16 is directly above the arm 11.

The staff 1 will usually be located along the track in such a position that the staff will be on the right-hand side of the train, the crew of which is to receive a message or messages, and the staff will be so arranged that if arms 11 or 13 are raised to their horizontal positions, one arm or the other will extend toward and substantially at right angles with the track, depending upon the position of the tube 2 with respect to the staff. The height of the staff will usually be such that as the train passes the staff, a member of the crew may conveniently grasp a message which is releasably held between the upper end of the tube and the outer end of one or the other of the arms 11 or 13 in a manner which will be described-hereinafter.

The operation of the message holder is as follows: When two messages are to be received by the train crew, the tube 2 is first rotated in a counter-clockwise direct-ion against the bias of spring 3 to a position in which the dog 15 is in alignment with the slot 4? in the ferrule 4, and the arm 13 is then raised to its horizontal position so that the dog 15 enters the slot 4 in the ferrule 4. A loop 20 of string, or other suitable material, to which an envelope 21 containing one of the messages is fastened, is next strung through the clips 14 and the clip 19 (see Fig. 1), thereby holding the arm 13 in a horizontal position extending toward the track, and thus holding the tube 2 in the position in which the stop pin 8 engages the shoulder 2 as shown in Fig. 2. The arm 13 is next moved to its horizontal position, and a second loop which is not shown in the drawings, but which is similar to the loop 20, and which carries a second envelope containing another message, is strung through the clips 18 and the clip 16. Since the arm 13 now extends substantially at right angles to the track, it will be apparent that, as the train passes the staff, a member of the train crew, for example, the engineman, may insert his arm through the open loop 20 which is attached to the arm 13, thus causing the loop and the message attached thereto to leave the clips 14 and the clip 19, whereupon, the arm 13 drops by gravity to its depending vertical position. The dog 15 is then withdrawn from the slot 4& in the ferrule 4, and the spring 3 rotates the tube 2 to the position in which the stop pin 8 engages the shoulder 2. The arm 11 then occupies the same relative position with respect to the staff 1 and to the track as the arm 13 previously occupied, and it will be apparent that another member of the train crew may now insert his arm through the second loop which is attached to the arm 11, and remove the second message from this arm. The arm 11 then also drops by gravity to its depending vertical position.

It Will be obvious from the foregoing that if only one message is to be received by the train crew, the loop bearing the message may be attached to either arm.

Although I have herein shown and descibed only one form of message holder embodying my invention, it is understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A message holder comprising a vertical staff, a tube mounted to rotate about said staff and biased to a first position, two arms pivotally attached to said tube in radial spaced relation and each biased to a vertical position and movable into a horizontal position, means controlled by a first one of said arms and effective when said first arm occupies its horizontal position for at times holding said tube in a second position against the force of said bias, the locations of said arms being such that when said tube occupies said first position said second arm occupies the same position relative to said staff as said first arm occupies when said tube occupies its second position, clips on said arm and said tube, a first loop adapted to hold a message fastened to said tube and said first arm by means of said clips and arranged to hold said first arm in its horizontal position, and a second loop adapted to hold a second message and fastened to said second arm and said tube and arranged to hold said second arm in its horizontal position.

2. A message holder comprising a vertical staff, a first ferrule attached to said staff, a second ferrule attached to said staff below said first ferrule and provided with a slot, a tube mounted on said staff and adjusted to rotate about said ferrules and provided at its lower end with a vertical slot which may at times be brought into alignment with the slot in said second ferrule, said tube also having a portion of its lower end cut away to form two shoulders, a stop pin secured to said staff and adapted to cooperate with said shoulders to limit the angles through which said tube can be rotated, the location of said pin being such that when said pin engages one of said shoulders the slot! in said tube will be in alignment with the slot in said ferrule, a coil spring having one end secured to said staff and having the other end fitting in said slot for biasing said tube to the position in which said pin engages the other said shoulder, a collar attached to the lower end of said slot and provided with a first and a second set of lugs disposed in angular spaced relation, said first set of lugs being located adjacent said slot, a first arm pivotally supported between the lugs of said first set and biased to a depending vertical position but movable to a horizontal position, a dog attached to said first arm in such a position that said dog will enter the slot in said tube and the slot in said second ferrule and hold said tube in the position which it then occupies if said first arm is raised to its horizontal position when said stop pin is in engagement with said one shoulder, a second arm pivotally supported between the lugs of said second set and biased to a depending vertical position but movable to a horizontal position, a first and a second clip attached to opposite ends of said first arm, a third clip attached to the upper end of said tube directly above said first arm, a fourth and a fifth clip attached to opposite ends of said second arm, and a sixth clip attached to the upper end of said tube directly above said second arm; said first, second and third clips being adapted to hold a first loop to which a first message is attached when said first arm occupies its horizontal position, and said fourth, fifth and sixth clips being adapted to hold a second loop to which a second message is attached when said second arm occupies its horizontal position.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

LEMUEL F. HOWARD. 

